(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to automotive telematics and mobile telephony focused on machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Automotive navigation is being widespread with digital maps gradually shifting away from 2D to 3D. The conventional 2D and 3D digital maps, such as Google Maps and Street View, are devoid of real-time features that would enhance motorists' chances of making user-centric driving decisions in a way to avoid mutually exclusive driving behaviors.
Basically, being unable to see far beyond from a driver's driving point may tend to prime the negative effect of Prisoner's Dilemma among drivers on the roads, especially at the time of an abrupt traffic surge. This is because a collective sum of an individual and instantaneous anxiety and uncertainty facing each driver over what is happening a few miles ahead on the road may lead up to a “phantom traffic jam” also known as “jamiton”.
The emerging technology of augmented reality is in growing demand in efforts to break down the barriers lying between the virtuality and reality related to mobile devices. The present invention stresses the need for a shift away from the status quo of a heavy reliance on cloud-based augmented reality, by enabling a real-time view of remote scenes far beyond human abilities. Real-time feedback needs for drivers on the roads are necessarily based on their individual needs to beat the technological limitations resulting from the cloud-centric data events.
A hybrid concept of live streaming remote traffic scenes to each motorist at the wheel, combined with a minimal reliance on cloud-based images of street scenes, will boost the untapped potential of augmented reality more dynamically.
Meantime, with a view to monitoring automobile crashes and accidents, Vehicle Event Data Recorders (VDER), also known as automotive black boxes, are currently available on a limited number of vehicles. The present invention is not aimed at monitoring drivers at the wheel with an ulterior motive of behavioral tracking and targeting at the expense of each driver's privacy, but ultimately at adding mobility to traffic surveillance geared to user-centric needs.
Not all, but some VDERs may come equipped with two video cameras; one for monitoring a driver at the wheel and another for monitoring things happening outside the vehicle, thereby ensuring an immediate and automatic transmission of the surveillance data recorded directly to local police and insurance companies in the event of any vehicle crash or accident. Accordingly, the controversial issue of privacy would need to be compromised considerably if it were to mandate VDERs to be installed all across the board without a single exception.
In the same vein, the present invention has to deal with the privacy issue associated with video captures being made at the end points of every vehicle equipped with at least one video camera. Whether to select the video captures for archiving purposes is out of the question as far as this invention is concerned. Thus, the present invention is intended to block the recording at users' end of any video captures being made at one vehicle and received at another vehicle, unlike some models of VDER are designed to record the scenes of crash and accidents.
Reference is also made to iCam, an iPhone application software by SKJM LLC., which enables Webcam live streaming, if any motion is detected. In this case, the main drawback is that viewers are under the burden of such chores as log-in procedures to get access to the limited number of webcam installations. Additionally, iCam is basically a one-to-one communication device lacking a peer-to-peer advantage of harnessing the vehicle traffic.